


Is This A Date?

by STARSdidathing



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Accidental Relationship, Asgard, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Feels, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Fluffy Ending, Happy Ending, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Gets a Hug, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Oblivious Tony Stark, Pining, Post-Avengers (2012), Romantic Fluff, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 05:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17698445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing
Summary: Tony could be kind of oblivious. He didn’t always notice things unless they were right in front of his face; romantic things, particularly.





	Is This A Date?

**Author's Note:**

> Just some pure fluff. Enjoy.

Tony could be kind of oblivious. He didn’t always notice things unless they were right in front of his face; romantic things, particularly.

It was probably why he could be excused for not working things out about Loki.

When Pepper had broken up with him, it had been for the best, but it had still hurt. Rhodey and Bruce had rallied around him and when Thor had shown up on Earth with his reformed, out of prison and bored brother it was useful to have a distraction - and Loki was one big ass distraction.

Tony was suspicious, dubious and nervous about Loki to begin with, but it quickly turned out that the mage was fun, intelligent, sarcastic and wickedly mischievous. They got along like a house on fire and Tony started to spend a lot of his time with the other man.

Six months into Loki living in the Tower and being an occasional Avenger, and Tony would have said things were going pretty damn well. Tony also would have said that he and Loki were just good friends.

Sure, they went to events together and Loki took him to see things off-world but that was as friends. They were _friends_.

Or, he’d thought as much. Then he’d kind of realised that they weren’t.

He worked it out when Loki took him to Asgard to experience some of the things Loki had done in his youth; specifically, _flying a space-Viking ship_. Okay, Loki called it an Asgardian long ship, but Tony didn't care about the name. He was too busy bouncing with enthusiasm as Loki helped him down into the ship. They sat side by side with the steering mechanism between them. Loki had driven them out onto the open waters before smirking, giving Tony a few instructions and handing over the wheel.

Tony had grinned at Loki, matching his excitement before taking off. It wasn’t hard to get the hang of the ship and Loki was a firm support by his side. His hands came down to guide Tony’s. His soft laughter filled Tony’s ear before words of encouragement and instruction were gently given. 

It was, without doubt, the _coolest_ thing he’d done in years. The water sprayed up and over them as Tony got a bit more used to it. Loki then encouraged him to take to the air and, yeah, okay, Tony had fallen in love and decided _he had to have one_.

Tony had turned to say as much, to say _help me steal one_ or maybe, _help me reverse engineer one in the lab back home_ , but the words had dried up on his tongue as he’d looked at Loki and saw the mage watching him; completely relaxed, utterly happy and entirely _fond_.

Tony’s smile had faded and he’d also slowed the ship to a hover, staring at Loki and blinking with shock as he ran his mind over the last few days, the last few _months_. It was suddenly incredibly obvious what had been happening, and he couldn’t believe he’d missed it - he couldn’t believe that Loki had never _mentioned_ it or sought more from him.

“We’re dating?” he asked, a little dumbly, still trying to comprehend it.

It was only because he was staring at Loki that Tony saw the way his face kind of... fell. It wasn’t a large gesture; his smile just dropped, becoming more of a wince and the light dimmed in his eyes before his gaze flicked away. He breathed a small sound, a little resigned and caught-out, ‘ _ah_ ’.

It was only for a moment, a handful of seconds, before he looked back up. His lips were plastered in a generic smile but a low level tension rested in his shoulders. He murmured, “Do not let us lose altitude, Stark.”

 _Stark_ , not Anthony; his withdrawal could not have been clearer, but Tony’s mind was still racing, facts and figures slotting into place like lines of code.

Loki had been dating him, knowing Tony didn’t realise what was going on; maybe he’d intended it to be a date at first, maybe he hadn’t, but somewhere along the line he’d started dating Tony quietly; they were secret dates, _fake_ dates. Illusions.

Loki had admitted to him once that he often made worlds of fantasy when the real world wasn’t to his liking. He’d said it as a throwaway comment, a joke to make Tony laugh, but now he wasn’t so sure Loki hadn’t been telling a painful truth; because it was exactly what he’d done here.

He’d built their outings into the structure of a date without the physical intimacy and without Tony noticing.

Tony honestly didn’t know how long he stared at Loki, but he did hear the mage sigh before he was batting away Tony’s hands and taking control of the steering wheel. He wasn’t looking at Tony even as he muttered, “Perhaps this is enough for the day.”

“No, hey,” Tony instantly protested, a hand moving to hover near Loki’s. It made the mage look at him, green eyes impossible to read. Tony swallowed. “You said you’d take me over the forests.”

Loki’s expression was still guarded but after eyeing Tony for a few moments he started to relax. He still gave Tony an out, “Only if you still wish to...?”

“I do,” Tony insisted.

Loki gave him a half-smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Well then,” he moved his hand from the wheel, “shall you steer?”

Tony quickly placed his hands back on it and with Loki’s soft direction he changed course in order for them to see the forests of Asgard. 

It only took them a few minutes to get back into the familiar groove of their relationship, mostly because Tony became too awed by the scenery to feel awkward. Loki also began to laugh and explain the history as he took back guiding the ship. 

He didn’t touch Tony though, not once. There were no absent touches, no leaning in and murmuring against Tony’s ear. He was a perfectly polite distance apart. He was accepting that his illusionary dates were over. 

They weren’t dating anymore and that... that didn’t sit great with Tony.

In fact, Tony found his attention drifting as Loki spoke. He was still leaning slightly over the ship and looking at everything down below, but his thoughts were on Loki, on their time together, on their _dates_.

It didn’t take Tony long to decide what to do even if it took time to enact it.

When they were on the longboat and during the walk through the city, Loki was telling him stories about Asgard and about the first construction of the longboats. Loki recounted how he'd won many races with them in the past. Tony didn't interrupt as he was interested to hear each story and question Loki about each tale. 

When they reached the start of the rainbow bridge, Loki placed a casual and carefully neutral hand to his shoulder to teleport them to the bifrost. He let Tony go the moment they arrived and had Heimdall send them back in short order. It was nothing like how they usually left planets; it was usually with excitement and ease; teleportation and wide grins. Tony would either head to the lab, dragging Loki with him or they would just sit down to recount everything, Loki smiling and listening with fondness.

This time, Loki was already beginning to make his excuses so that he could leave, no doubt planning to accept his defeat in quiet; to let his shoulders slump and sadly accept the fact that his ‘dates’ with Tony were over - but Tony didn’t let him go far.

He caught Loki’s arm as the mage tried to turn away. He also pulled Loki back, surprise the only thing that allowed Tony to move the other man. He kept the motion fluid as he tugged Loki down so that he could shift up. Tony saw the mage’s shock up close a moment before he closed his eyes, his lips touching Loki’s in a soft, tender kiss. But, Loki didn’t hesitate to kiss him back, or to bring a hand to cup Tony’s neck. It was the instantaneous response that came from a long time of _wanting_. 

It felt like the kiss lasted a lifetime, stealing all of Tony’s breath with its tenderness. When they finally pulled apart, Tony was smiling faintly while Loki’s grin was wide and his eyes were bright. He looked so innocently happy and Tony squeezed his arm before saying, “I’m looking forward to where you take me on our next date, Loki.”

Loki laughed and the sound was utterly beautiful. “You will not be disappointed, Anthony.”

His gaze also held Tony’s, promising more than just a good evening - he was promising that Tony wouldn’t regret taking a chance on a relationship with him.

But Tony already knew that he wouldn’t regret it, not since Loki had called him ‘ _Anthony_ ’ again and Tony's chest had flooded with warmth at hearing it.

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually meant to be a five times fic. "Five times Tony didn't notice they were dating and one time he did" but whoops. I only wrote the noticing. Ah well. I hope you like it :)


End file.
